Looks like we’re making a little dent; head over to Daypop.com and check out this query: “frog-walk”.  Nine of us appear and I know there’s more here in Salon Blogs who’ve been writing about the Plame scandal.  Keep up the good work, gang!  Nice to see we can make a ripple as a meme team!

Check Popdex.com for the same query and you’ll find it’s all about Kriselda at differentstrings.info.  She’s got the magic touch – or should I say pagan touch?  Whatever it is, she’s got it covered.  (Kriselda has been doing a fabulous job of collecting great links on the Plame scandal; if you’re short on time, see her site first!)

Speaking of links on the Plame scandal, I’ve been following along regularly at Talking Points Memo and Eschaton as well as a number of other smaller blog sites.  Eschaton’s comments from yesterday have been blown away, but I kept one in particular, responding to this post on a second leaker:

Whoever blew Plame's cover, I vote she has the pleasure of tossing them into the duck pit.

if anyone thinks the Chicago Sun Times should dump Novak they can write to
Mr. Conrad Black
Hollinger
401 N. Wabash Ave #740
Chicago Il 60611

if you think his syndicators should drop him write to
info@creators.com

if you think the Washington Post should drop him write to
ombudsman@washpost.com

If you think CNN should drop Novak you can write to
Mr. Richard Parsons
President
Time Warner
75 Rockefeller Plaza
NY NY 10019
56k | Homepage | 10.06.03 - 3:48 pm | #

Yeah.  This commenter has a point.  Novak has allowed himself to be used more than once to plant negative stories.  Is that really journalism?  Is that what you want as a consumer of journalism, someone who’s little more than a partisan tool?

UPDATE -- 10:43 AM EDT --

Cheese-on-rice, I should have checked DailyKos and WaPo both before posting this morning!  They're all over this Leaky-Novak line, too!  Check it out!  Changes the field of potential leakers and certainly confirms Novak is nothing but a tool!  You really gotta' wonder if Novak's just a NOC (non-official cover operative) too!  Just wish I knew for which team he was playing!

10:34:23 AM    comment []

This blog is getting some air-time over at a new website, http://www.lansingsucks.com.  You might disagree with the website’s title, but it is attention getting, and Lansing needs just that. 

Like many other states, Michigan as a whole has not fared well over the last handful of years.  Its capitol city, Lansing, suffers greatly from the multi-billion dollar deficit left behind in the wake of the departed Engler Administration.  Many state programs and services are being cut deeply to stop the financial hemorrhaging, with Lansing bearing the brunt of budget shortfalls.

How long will it take before things turn around?  It’s hard to say; a lot rides on the fates of the largest industries residing in Michigan.  With automotive companies nearly giving away cars to keep sales levels afloat, I’m inclined to think it’s going to be a while before things turn around.  A lot also rides on the people of Michigan; will they be able to stay the course, knuckle down and cut the current administration enough slack to undo the damage left by the previous Administration?  I sure hope so, but the grumbling of state workers who’ve lost wages, hours and jobs isn’t reassuring.  (Yeah, I want to say to these state staffers, I feel your pain, but I’ve been unemployed for 15 months now; just how do you think I’m going to pay for your services?)

Being featured at lansingsucks.com brings a sense of responsibility; I owe it to my homies to talk more about the way it is here in Michigan.  At the same time, I owe it to them to see beyond our ‘hood, share what I’m seeing else where in the US and around the world.  I hope I can make a real contribution.

In the mean time, I’ve gotta’ do something about these weird titles.  It’s not exactly rocket science, but it’s got to be annoying for readers at lansingsucks.com to see my titles in a massive font.  Please forgive the weird updating count while I squirrel around with the HTML; since I’m no coder, it’s likely to be ugly.

While we’re on the subject of Lansing, be sure to check out a fellow Salon blogger, Jennifer at Synaesthesia – she’s a homie, too.  She’ll be featuring a three-part piece this week about Lansing; promises to be good stuff.

9:48:25 AM    comment []